Beckham determined to win over doubters

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THE dark days of 1998, when one newspaper used his face as the bull’s-eye of a dartboard, were traumatic for David Beckham but they may have been tolerable compared with the worst moments of the past six months. As his marriage was picked apart in the newspapers, his form for Real Madrid dipped alarmingly. By the time he wildly miscued his last, fateful kick of the European Championship finals, the England captain had had enough.

The summer launch of a soccer school was cancelled as Beckham, who could fill every waking hour with lucrative deals, cleared his diary for three